Loaches Online Forum

Through gross stupidity I have an Ick infection in my loach tank. Anyway, I am treating with Jungle Ick Guard II. Without thinking too hard about it I also dosed the tank with Melafix to help prevent any of the wounds left behind from the Ick from becoming infected. About 20 minutes after doing it I am now wondering if I compounded my stupidity by doing so. Has anyone ever treated with both of these meds at the same time? Or heard of it being done? Known issues? I did a search of the forums but I couldn't find anything specific.

Some of my fish (including loaches) don't tolerate melafix well, so I seldom use it. I would watch them for signs of stress.

I don't know if you are using the fizzing tablets, but I made a stupid mistake when a piece didn't dissolve fast enough and my elephant nose swallowed it, turned white and went belly up. I threw it into another tank, and he started to recover.

Only the general caution to never mix meds unless both are labeled for use with each other.

Melafix seems to be a bit of a problem for several groups of fish. (Anabantoids, Polypterids, and I also remember seeing some posts here varying from 'it is fine' to 'never again!' for Loaches.) I would do some rather frequent water changes (will help remove Ich, too) until the Melafix is greatly diluted.

Thank you both. I'll try to remember about mixing in the future.

The Jungle product says it works with all of its other meds but it seems to be a brand I see less and less. In fact, just finding the amounts I needed was hard. All the other Ick treatements I have ever found are not for scaleless fish. If I can't find this brand in the future what am I to do? This is a major worry as I went to 5 stores before I found what I needed.

Melafix has a very strong smell. If you notice, it is generally nearly gone in 24 hours. It breaks down in the water as it is an organic compound.

I have generally been able to find Rid Ich, but I use salt and heat, gravel vacuuming, and a UV sterilizer for Ich.

If you ever try the salt and heat method, this might be helpful-
http://www.geocities.com/chefkeithallen ... lator.html

Heck, I'm going to have to do some reading. I thought the salt method was forbidden where loaches were concerned. Thanks again.

The salt method is easy to screw up, which is why I usually don't recommend it. Chemical or medication ich treatments can be just as dangerous though, but at least they come with instructions that can be followed to make it a little safer. Ich is more dangerous than the treatments, which is why I always suggest a prophylactic ich treatment while the fish are in quarantine and still healthy.

A problem with the salt method is that dosage is not standardized and most people usually get it wrong. Some will try a half dosage for loaches, which IME is not enough for tougher strains of ich. The tough strains of ich often put fish keepers into panic mode and they screw up the treatments by doing large water changes. The fish go into osmotic shock, shed their tail fins and slime coat, and then die a tragic death which is caused not by the ich, but by the butchered treatment. I know this 1st hand and I'm guilty of doing this.

The most important thing is to catch ich early or prevent outbreaks with prophylactic treatments while the fish are still healthy. A healthy fish will resist ich better and won't be affected as much by whatever ich treatment is used.

chefkeith wrote:Ich is more dangerous than the treatments, which is why I always suggest a prophylactic ich treatment while the fish are in quarantine and still healthy.

Yeah. I'm going to try that next time. Also, going to start using a net treatment bucket to prevent transfers between tanks.

chefkeith wrote:The most important thing is to catch ich early or prevent outbreaks with prophylactic treatments while the fish are still healthy. A healthy fish will resist ich better and won't be affected as much by whatever ich treatment is used.

It looks like I caught this real early. I saw a few specks of the fine white salt looking stuff on one fish (a loach) and treated immediately. Lucky for me I found a store with enough to treat my 125 gallon tank for a number of days. So far all of the original spots are gone and no new ones have shown up in the last day. Fingers are firmly crossed.